The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, April 3, 2014 - 3A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, April 3, 2014 - 3A OBAMA From Page 1A "My point is we got to make sure that everybody can afford to do things that may not pay huge sums of money but are really valuable to society," Obama said. While many students filled the audience, University administra- tors and governmentofficials also made a strong showing. Included among the attendees were Uni- versity executive officers, mem- bers of the University's Board of Regents, Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), State Reps Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) and Adam Zemke (D-Ann Arbor) and Congressio- nal candidate Debbie Dingell. LSA senior Mira Friedlander, a restaurant server who finances her college education with her minimum wage job, introduced the president before he gave his remarks. Inan interview after the speech, Friedlander said she was honored to introduce the presi- dent, especially before a speech that would hit close to home. "It was completely surreal," she said. Obama's address comes only a day after the White House announced that 7.1 million Amer- icans signed up for the Afford- able Care Act. The president cited the success of the legislation as another mechanism he has used to ensure that every American has an opportunity to succeed. Raising the minimum wage, he said, is another shot at granting Americans the success the coun- try promised in its founding. In an interview after the speech, Regent Mark Bernstein (D-Ann Arbor) said Obama's multiple visits to campus signify the University's role in national issues of concern. "It speaks to the stature of this great public university," Bernstein said. "Each time his message has been targeted at a student body that i think appre- ciates his message. It's a great honor to participate in that kind of experience." Bernstein added that he and several other University offi- cials met with Obama before his speech. During the address, more than 100 students lined the bleachers behind him with an American flag draped above them on the IM Building's brick wall. Some of these students included Business senior Michael Proppe, CSG pres- ident; LSA senior Phil Schermer, MUSIC Matters president; and LSA senior Tyrell Collier, Black Student Union president, among other campus leaders. In an interview after the event, E. Royster Harper, vice president for student life, said the office of Student Life chose which stu- dents to invite to sit in the select- ed seats. While many of them were leaders of prominent cam- pus organizations, Harper said some represented sectors of cam- pus that are less well known - including first-generation college students, international students, students who work in campus dining halls and some who grew up in foster care. "We tried to be really thought- ful," Harper said. "Some were students in leadership roles, but others were students who lead in a very different way." Students showed up in droves Monday afternoon to wait for their chance to secure their spot at the event. The University dis- tributed tickets on a first-come, first-served basis Tuesday morn- ing at 9 a.m., motivating students to wait in line overnight for the opportunity to see the president. Harper said this commit- ment to engaging in campus life showed how willing the students are to interact with the world around them. "Our students are always engaged and thinking about what's going on in the world and they're just smart in that way," Harper said. "They're politically smart. I think students on boths sides of the issues kind of want to be in the conversation." Bernstein echoed Harper's sentiments after Obama's speech, adding that students are engaged in nationally pertinent topics. "We have a uniquely engaged student body," Bernstein said. "It shows that we have students that are intensely interested in. mat- ters of consequence that face this nation." Schermer, who interned with the National Economic Council in the White House last sum- mer, said in an interview after the event that Obama's speech gave resounding statistical economic and public policy evidence for raising the minimum wage. Proppe said Obama's emphasis onloweringthecostofhigheredu- cation was particularly important for the University community. To ease costs on higher education, the University has initiated a host of cost-containment initiatives - including the lowest increase in tuition in recent years and an uptick in financial aid funding. As for Obama's strong presence at the University, Proppe said his willingness to come back again and again is due to the thriving entrepreneurship community. "A lot of really motivated peo- ple live here and things start in Ann Arbor and spread nation- ally," Proppe said. "I think the president understands that." Before his speech, Obama ordered a #2 Reuben from Ann Arbor landmark, Zingerman's Delicatessen - which Obama said is an example of a business that values its employees. Zing- erman's co-owner Paul Saginaw pays his employees more than minimum wage. "Zingerman's is a business that treats its workers well, and rewards honest work with honest wages," Obama said. "And that's worth celebrating." Over lunch, Obama spoke to Friedlander about her experience navigating college depending financially on her minimum wage job. While she said she was sur- prised by Obama's calm demean- or, Friedlander said she was upset he chose a "new pickle" over an "old pickle" to supplement his sandwich - a Zingerman's tra- dition that Ann Arbor residents take pride in. "It was the most unreal thing of my entire life, but it made me comfortable introducing him," Friedlander said. "But then speaking was the biggest high in the world. I thought, 'Who gets to introduce the leader of the free world?"' Among passionate state- ments in support of raising the minimum wage, Obama jokingly recalled his decision to choose the Michigan State University basketball team as the champions of his March Madness bracket. At the beginning of his speech, Obama mentioned University basketball players Jordan Mor- gan, Glenn Robinson III and Nik Stauskas, congratulating them on their season and run in the tour- nament. "My bracket's a mess," Obama said. "I learned my lesson: Iwill not pick against the Wolver- ines." SPEECH From Page 1A a society where progress is the servant of our needs, or a society where old values and new visions are buried under unbridled growth." In front of a crowd of about 1,400 University students, faculty and Michigan legislators, Obama harkened back to Johnson's vision. "We want to make sure that no matter where you're born, what circumstances, how you started out, what you look like, what your last name is, who you love - it doesn't matter, you can succeed," he said. "That's what we believe." Obama's 35-minute speech was filled with references to the University and Ann Arbor, from Nik Stauskas to Zingerman's Delicatessen, but his most impor- tant relation to the state was the recent initiative of state legisla- tors to raise the minimum wage. "If you're working, if you're responsible, you should be able to pay the rent, pay the bills," Obama said. "You've got more states and counties and cities that are work- ing to raise the minimum wage as we speak. That includes your state legislators from Ann Arbor." State Reps. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) and Adam Zemke (D-Ann Arbor), who both attended the event, co-sponsored State House Bill 4386 in March 2013, which proposes the state minimum wage be raised from $7.40 to $9 per hour. "(Raising the minimum wage) puts more money into pockets, which will be put back into the economy," Zemke said. He added that Obama's pub- lic presence has put significant weight behind gathering support. "It's important that he contin- ues to speak about this around the country, to dispel false conno- tations or associations with rais- ing the minimum wage," Zemke said. Obama has endorsed a pro- posed bill to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour .On Feb. 12, he signed an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal government contractors to $10.10. "It's easy to remember," he said in his address. "10-10.10-10." One week earlier, the Congres- sional Budget Office released a report on the effects of a poten- tial raise. It estimated that a raise to $10.10 per hour would increase the nation's unemployment by 500,000 workers, or 0.3 percent, and 16.5 million workers would have higher earnings. However, just 19 percent of those earnings would go to families living below the poverty threshold. Though a minority of the excess earnings would go to fami- lies in poverty, the CBO reported that such a raise would lift about 900,000 of the roughly 45 million people who are currently below the poverty threshold above it. Many University students work part-time jobs, which often pay minimum wage, to supple- ment living and tuition costs; however, the average age of mini- mum-wage earners is 35. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) introduced a budget Tuesday outlining Congressional Repub- licans' plan to grow the economy by cutting spending by $5.1 tril- lion. Raising the federal mini- mum wage was not included in the plan. "(Republicans) sincerely believe that if we give more tax breaks to a fortunate few and we invest less in the middle class and ... do only what's best for their bottom line without the responsi- bility to the rest of us, then some- how the economy will boom, and jobs and prosperity will trickle down to everybody," Obama said. In his speech, the president called on businesses to act as well, referencing Henry Ford's famous wage-doubling initiative in his Michigan factory 100 years ago. "Not only did it boost pro- ductivity, not only did it reduce turnover, not only did it make employees more loyal to the com- pany, but it meant that the work- ers could afford to buy the cars that they were building," Obama said. Wallace Hopp, senior associate dean for faculty and research at the Ross School of Business, said this type of strategy is necessary for businesses to be successful. "By paying high wages he not only attracted the best people, but held onto them ... as a result he had very high levels of productiv- ity," Hopp said. "Ford was right when he said raising wages was the greatest cost-saving device he had come up with." He added that Costco, also referenced in the president's remarks, is a modern example of this practice. The Center for Posi- tive Organizations at Ross stud- ies Costco and other models, and has repeatedly seen productive results coming from their higher wages. Though the majority of Ameri- cans support raising the mini- mum wage, Hopp said there is opposition both from smaller businesses that depend on min- imum-wage workers and from within Congress. "One word: politics," Hopp said. "If you believe that the free market is the right thing and can never fail, and any effort to regu- late it is evil, then you oppose minimum wage laws because they are anti-free trade." Mike Traugott, professor of communication studies and political science, said Obama's speech focused more on the equity issue of raising minimum wage rather than the economic argument. "The president doesn't talk about this in terms of jobs," Traugott said. "He talks about it in terms of getting by." He noted that in front of a sympathetic audience, Obama referenced his vision for an Opportunity Society more fre- quently than his plans for the federal minimum wage. Traugott said the president, now in his second term, is able to talk about social issues such as equity and gay marriage without fear of negative attack ads. He added that Obama may look to the Democratic nominee in 2016 election to carry on the fight. One of Johnson's first men- tions of the "Great Society" came in front of a crowd of 85,000 in Ann Arbor. Half a century later, Obama stood in a smaller build- ing down the street, in front of a smaller audience, but with the same call to action. "We believe in opportunity for everybody," Obama said. "More good jobs for everybody. More workers to fill those jobs. A world-class education for every- body. Hard work that pays off with wages you can live on and savings you can retire on and health care you can count on. That's what 'opportunity for all' means." LIEBERMAN From Page 1A "It's very satisfying to realize that my efforts are appreciated by some people," Lieberman said. "It's an incentive to continue working and putting energy and enthusi- asm into course preparation. It's a recognition of the past and incen- tives for the future." The ceremony provides profes- sors with an opportunity to give their "last lecture." In his last lec- ture, titled "What I Think I Know About History," Lieberman dis- cussed the history of the world and his predictions for the future. "It was an opportunity to play with some big ideas that I hadn't yet formulated," Lieberman said. "I thought I'd vent these large thoughts that I'd had for some time." University President Mary Sue Coleman, who was presented with the first Golden Apple Award for university leadership, spoke before Lieberman delivered his lecture. "I am deeply humbled by this award," Coleman said. "There's nothing quite as important as being with students, lecturing them and seeing them grow as they progress through their academic careers and their time at the University." Prior to coming to the Univer- sity, Lieberman obtained his Bach- elor of Arts and graduated first in his class from Yale University and received his Ph.D. from the Uni- versity of London's School of Ori- ental and African Studies. Lieberman has written four books, which have been acclaimed by the Association for Asian Stud- ies and the World History Asso- ciation. He has also published numerous articles and is working on his fifth book, to be published by Harvard University Press. Lieberman first came to the University in 1984 as an assistant professor and became a full profes- sor in 1991. He previously taught a course on Southeast Asian history and a course on the Vietnam War. He currently teaches a History244 course on the Arab-Israeli conflict. LSA sophomore Greg Klein took the class last year and said Lieberman was one of his favorite instructors at the University. "I thought he was one of the most intelligent professors I'd ever had," Klein said. "I think he's a genius, I think he is a great historian, I think he gives great lectures and I think that's why he won." POLICY From Page 2A goes all the way to a finding," Wilgus said. "Oftentimes the Uni- versity becomes aware of an inci- dent of sexual harassment and a student specifically requests that the Universitynot take any action." The Dean of Students Office reaches 95 to 97 percent of the incoming student body through an online course called Commu- nity Matters, Blake Jones said. Three studentsinthe audience asked about what challenges the University faces when reaching out to the Greek Life community. "The challenge is one of num- bers," Blake Jones said. The Dean of Students Office partners closely with the national organizations that work individ- ually with each chapter to elevate the standards their foundations were created upon, Blake said. Rider-Milkovich ended the panel by stressing the impor- tance of collaboration, likening sexual assault awareness and prevention to the act of pushing a rock uphill- a task achievable with community support and understanding. ROTC From Page 1A that were used in those battles. The trip aims to give cadets a better understanding of battle tactics, how to lead and howto deal with stressful situations. The trip also gives cadets hands-on experience in deci- sion-making and leadership that they normally would not experience in a more tradition- al setting. "Classroom learning doesn't really cut it when you're out in the physical world," said Engineering senior Matthew Blanchard, an Army ROTC cadet who served as cadet bat- talion commander last semes- ter. This was the first time the Army ROTC program trav- eled to Gettysburg for the staff ride. Blanchard said the ROTC program chose Gettys- burg for its complex battle- field, intricate planning and the tactical decisions com- manders had to make. "It is one thing to read about the Battlefield of Get- tysburg, or to watch a spe- cial on -the History Channel, but there is an element that you just can't pick up unless you are there witnessing it yourself," wrote Engineering senior Michael Konieczny, an Army ROTC cadet, in an e-mail interview. Once at Gettysburg, each cadet was assigned to a spe- cific battlefield and asked to analyze its terrain as well as present various facts and sto- ries about it to the rest of the group. The battlefields the cadets visited were Devil's Den, Tri- angle Field, Little Round Top, Cemetery Ridge, Peach Orchard and Culp's Hill. Cadets also participated in group discussions and prac- ticed devising their own battle tactics after analyzing their chosen battlefields. Konieczny wrote that he was assigned to analyze Dev- il's Den, where Union and Confederate soldiers fought during the second day of the battle. His battle tactics con- sisted of providing the other cadets with information about both their own forces and the hostile forces, leading them to the starting point of the battle, commanding them to formu- late a plan and to adjust the plan whenever needed. "The whole purpose of the exercise was to demonstrate how rapidly and unpredictably a battle can change from the commander's initial assess- ment," Konieczny wrote. Cadets also visited the monument of Colonel Charles Frederick Taylor, a former Uni- versity student who was com- mander of the Union Army's First Rifle "Bucktails." LSA senior Hari Vutukuru, another Army ROTC cadet, presented facts and stories about Taylor to the cadets. "While our generation spends their twenties working or attending college, just start- ing to figure things out and to put our lives together, this man was responsible for the lives and welfare of hundreds of men in one of the most pivotal moments in American history," Konieczny wrote. Blanchard wrote that the staff ride was valuable to the ROTC program because cadets sometimes miss cer- tain concepts when reading about a battlefield in a class- room setting. He added that visiting the battlefield is invaluable to their learning experience. "Actually standing on the battlefield was a very emotion- al experience. To stand in the same place that so many thou- sands of men fought and died, the same place that the course of our nation's history was for- ever changed, was indescrib- able," Konieczny wrote.